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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — the amount
  5. spring — of water
  6. game — a match
  7. spell — letters
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. spring — the season
  13. file — a tool
  14. spell — magic
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. season — in sport
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. season — of the year
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. content — happy
  23. spell — a short time
  24. file — a document

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com